FROM THE WEST SIDE TO THE EAST SIDE

We wanted to experience as much of Poland as possible in a month so the last two days we have spent transitioning from generally north and west of Warsaw to the area south and east of Warsaw.  For a couple of days I puzzled over what the best route would be to accomplish this.  Finally, I gave up and simply set the GPS for a destination city, Zamosc, close to the Ukrainian boarder.  The route ended up taking us directly through the heart of Warsaw.  I hadn’t planned on driving in downtown Warsaw, but it turned out to be a piece of cake.  We stopped one night in this hotel out in the country near Ryki.  This is about 5 miles outside of any city.  We see these kinds of places quite frequently, but have never tried one for accommodations.  Here’s what you get inside.    The entry is all modern and chrome with purple tile.  The dining room is sterile and cold and the color makes the food unappealing.  The room was small and in poor condition.  The only upside was that the whole experience including a 4 egg scramble, bread, cheese, and coffee for each of us for breakfast cost a total of $40. 
Today, after a stop for a short tour of the old town in Lublin where we replenished our supply of Polish currency, we continued on to Zamosc.  The current rate of exchange is 3.45 zl (zloty) to the dollar. 
Zamosc is a wonderful city with a nice "old town" inside the fortified wall.  Marlene has been reading James Michener’s book “Poland” during our travels and has just finished it today.  From the book she picks out cities that have great historic significance and we head for them.  That’s how we found Lublin and Zamosc.  Our hotel here is just around the corner to the left from city hall.  We have a great room with our own private balcony.  Dinner tonight in the hotel was worthy of a couple of pictures.  We both had traditional Polish sour soup followed by Marlene’s salad and my roasted vegetables.   Believe it of not, the food has been one of the best parts of this trip.  We had expected meals of cabbage and instead have experienced all kinds of fish and the entire range of fruits and vegetables.  We still haven’t tried any beef dishes, but have temporarily added chicken, turkey, and a little pork to our diet.